Teaching new tricks

I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but we got ourselves a puppy for Christmas - a four-month-old whippet called Alfie.

After a wobbly start Alfie is settling in well and even made friends with the vet on his first visit for a check up.

Now as you can imagine, from a Learning and Development perspective, Alfie is something of a blank canvas.

What an opportunity!  Where to start? Knowledge, skills, attitude?  He needs the lot.  The Training Needs Analysis has been drafted but has some way to go.

We are, however, progressing nicely with induction.  For example, yesterday was all about walking – or to be precise stair walking.

As with all good learning interventions we first identified a clear SMART objective: Getting to the Top of the Stairs with no Broken Bones by Bedtime.

We then prepared a training plan and instructional strategy: short bite sized chunks of learning, lots of opportunity for practise, positive reinforcement and of course reward.  And it worked!

Alfie is now at what I would call an intermediate level of stair walking, what he lacks in grace and co-ordination he makes up for in enthusiasm.  With more practise and confidence building he’ll soon be an expert practitioner!

So what next?  Well tomorrow Alfie will complete this first e-learning module, which I created in the Authoring Tool…only joking!

But that reminds me…

In December’s News Splash we made a call for more e-learning to be shared amongst our customers.

I have the pleasure of reviewing all new modules shared by Friday 23rd January and awarding a prize for the most engaging and interactive e-learning that makes the best use of the Authoring Tool templates.

So, whatever the topic, be it induction, health and safety, equality impact assessment or even dog training, why not start the new year off with creating and sharing some e-learning?

I look forward to seeing the results.

Happy New Year!

Deborah

Tags: blank canvas, christmas present, puppy, training needs analysis, vet, whippet